It's Just Practice
by Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare
Summary: more Real People Fiction. RPF.:.Darren reads in the script that Blaine has a kiss scene with Kurt soon. But Darren's nervous; so he consults his pal Max, since the guy has already kissed Chris before. He gets more than he bargains for. Colderiss.


**A/N: An idea that's been brewing for a while now. Please excuse the fact that this is real-people-fanfiction; I KNOW THAT THE ACTORS DON'T FEEL THIS WAY FOR EACH OTHER. Hell, Darren and Max are straight and Max has a girlfriend! But… still. Go with it if you're into this sorta thing. Or, idk, pretend that it's Dave, Blaine, and Kurt. X3**

**I deem this triangle Colderiss. :'D**

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"Uh… Max?" Darren addresses with a frown as he approaches his friend and co-star.

"Yeah? What is it, D?" the other man remarks idly as he casually flips though the script they all received the other day. Once again, Dave's character doesn't have much. Max sighs; he feels like he's hardly working any longer…

Darren clears his throat. Laughing a tad nervously, he says with a gesture to the packet in his hands, "Is this how you felt when you read that you had to kiss Chris?"

Max's hazel eyes immediately dart upwards to meet Darren's. He frowns, then raises a brow with interest. "Come again?"

"A kiss. There's a 'Klaine kiss,' as Ryan seems so fond of calling it, in this episode. I can't say I hadn't seen something like this coming – it was bound to happen sometime, right? – but… I don't know. It's not like I have anything against it, but I'm… nervous. Chris didn't even want to play a gay character on-screen because he _is _gay and things can go wrong because of that. But I'm straight and I play a gay character, and I constantly have to remind people that I'm straight. You at least have a girlfriend; what have I got?" Darren frets, his teeth worrying a hole in his bottom lip.

Frowning, Max stands and grips Darren's shoulders. "Dude, _relax, _okay? No one's going to give you beef for this." Releasing Darren's shoulders with a grin, Max goes on, "At least your scripted kiss is a desired one. The fans love Blaine and Kurt together. And they've been waiting for this, and Chris' character is actually willing this time, but even when he wasn't, I hardly got much shit for it. So don't worry, okay? No one is going to judge you or anything, and this is going to go over just fine."

Darren nods, exhaling to calm his giddy, bubbly nerves. He glances up at Max, who, when standing, somewhat towers over him. "So… what was it like for your to kiss Chris? I mean, he's our friend and all, but I've honestly never imagined or really realized, I guess, what this could mean for me to do."

The taller actor simply laughs. He claps Darren once or twice on the back. "You know, I thought all sorts of things before I went ahead and did it. I thought it might be awkward, or weird to kiss another guy, but it wasn't. Chris was cool about it, and I'm glad it was him, since I really respect him. He's a great actor." He runs his tongue over his lips momentarily. "I think Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal said something similar about each other, since they're both straight but had to do _Brokeback Mountain_ which is, like, _way_ beyond this."

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing that," Darren remarks idly. "But still. It won't make things weird between he and I, will it?"

Max makes a scoffing sound. "Pff, what? No, of course not! Chris is totally chill about these things. Real professional, and doesn't even let his sexuality get in the way of his acting. Besides, lips are lips, Darren. It wouldn't even matter if they were his, mine, or someone like Lea's. And you kissed Lea, remember? That was intense, but it was all in good fun and part of acting, too, right?"

"True," Darren laughs. "Sorry. I'm really not trying to complain about this. Kissing people is fine, I just… I don't know. I really don't. It shouldn't be different. Lips _are _only lips. Chris is my friend, though, and I think that's really the problem here. Lea is just someone I know, but Chris is a _friend._ We have our chairs next to each other and everything, Kevin and Cory on his other side. It's just how we are."

"Hey, I hear ya, man," Max says in agreement, his hands lifting in mock surrender. "And I get it, I do. But it's no big deal, seriously. Chris's lips were nearly like a girl's, all full and soft and stuff. But ehy, fi you're so worried about the _friend-factor,_ here: I'll let you practice on me, since _we're _friends. G'head, lay one on me. Just tell me if the script says if I'm – or, rather, if _Kurt_ is – supposed to kiss back or not."

"Uh…" Darren mutters, flipping back to the page. He feels odd. He's normally a very carefree guy, but this is still all very new to him, even after episodes and episodes with _Glee. _It's not like doing musicals or posting YouTube videos of himself singing at _all. _"It says, 'Kurt will be pleasantly surprised at first, then return the kiss.' – God, Max, how am I supposed to do this? With you _or_ him."

"Come on, Darren, everyone on _Glee _has to have at least one heterosexual and homosexual kiss, it seems. It's, like, the _Glee _cast version of an initiation. How d'you think Chris felt when he and Heather had to do that kissing in season one? Must've been weird for him, too, being close to a girl like that, and someone he knew and is pretty good friends with, too. Right?" Max counters with a teasing roll of his eyes. He smiles again. "Seriously, Darren. _Stop worrying _and get into character. I don't think I could pull off acting like Kurt, and Karofsky would be wrong in this situation even if he _is _secretly gay, but you can do it."

The dark-haired young man makes a determined face. "You know what? You're right. I need to stop second guessing myself. Pucker up, Max," he muses, and tries to wipe the smile off his face when Max jokingly complies, leaning down and forward with his lips puffed out. "Not like that, you goof! It's just a figure of speech. Instead, act like we've been having a personal conversation."

"Oh, but we have been, _Blaine,_" Max snickers, trying to keep a poker face but failing. He clears his throat and softens his expression like he sometimes has to do before filming. "There, I'm utterly serious. No more silliness. Now go ahead and practice on me."

"Okay," Darren states firmly. He steels himself, slips into character, recites one or two lines of the dialogue right out of the script, and then sets the script down in Max's chair and grips the taller boy by the shoulders, one hand gliding upward to grip the nape of Max's neck lightly, and he leans a little on his toes while bringing Max down to make their lips meet.

It's brief, but soft and warm, but tense-lipped and with just the right amount of freezing-then-melting-into-movement on Max's part. As soon as their lips break apart and Darren leans carefully away, Max looks amused and Darren feels a little confused, like something just transpired right in front of his eyes that he was completely oblivious to.

"Thanks, Max," Darren says after a short while, and with a curt goodbye he makes his way onto the set where the others are rehearsing and going over their scripts, too.

.o0o.

Like Max had done, Darren tries not to ask for practices with Chris before filming. He just decides to go for it. And when it comes time for the moment to happen, Darren is oddly at ease with it; he's in character, he feels secure in his sexuality (which one, he doesn't know; the lines are blurred between himself and Blaine at the moment), and he simply gives the kiss like it's nothing, like it's not the first time, like it's precisely how things would have gone if the characters were real.

And when it's through, Darren is a little starstruck for a few moments. This isn't like kissing Max; Chris' lips are softer, smoother, like Max described. Warmer and fuller, too. And not quite girlish, actually, and that's part of the reason that jars Darren's calm resolve the most: he really, truly hadn't minded kissing Chris and wouldn't mind doing it again, even though Chris _is _a boy and his lips _didn't _feel like just any pair.

It's only worse, though, when Darren realizes that he wouldn't mind kissing Max again, too, for further comparison.

He's little shaken up by it, as a matter of fact. He's not at all afraid of possibly being gay or bi or something; he really just likes people, and as it happens, two people he seems to have the urge to kiss lately are both male. Whatever.

Chris doesn't seem fazed, however, and that might be the most frustrating part.

Darren shyly brings up the topic. He's awkward and jokes to much as he does so, and Chris simply gives him one of his smiles and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm flattered, Darren. You're so funny; one kiss with a guy, and suddenly you're thinking twice about yourself? It's not a big deal."

"Yes it is," Darren returns surely, his tone firm. He swallows and glances around. "I mean… Maybe it was always there. Or maybe I'm just too close of friends with you and Max, I don't know…"

Chris looks genuinely thoughtful. He cocks his head slightly. "How does Max feels about all of this?" he asks softly.

The shorter man shrugs. "Hell if I know. Think I should ask him? – God, imagine the embarrassment that will bring," and he laughs.

Chris chuckles a little with him. "Possibly." He smiles lightly. "Want to know a secret? Since you told me one?"

"Uh… sure," Darren agrees with a shrug.

Chris glances down at his own hands momentarily. "For a while, I thought I might've had a crush on Max. He's a good kisser, you know. Even when I'm not supposed to kiss back. And, well… that's about the most attention I've ever gotten, at least in a long while. Being famous hasn't helped by love life very much." There's Cory, people like to tease, but Chris knows that 'Monfer' isn't real. He's seen it on the internet – and it's mortified the hell out of him, and has even made him giggle like a girl once or twice (or ten times) – but it's just an exaggeration of the sort of affectionate friend Cory is.

Darren raises one of his triangular brows. "Whoa. So, you mean…" He suddenly smiles. "Ever had a crush on me?"

The other actor looks horrified. With a groan, he replies, "Are you actually going to make me answer that?"

"Yup."

Chris sighs heavily. Not looking directly at Darren at first, he admits reluctantly, "_Yes, _at one point, I did have a crush on you. Back when I was obsessed with A Very Potter Musical. I liked Joe Walker, too."

"Joe is such a fangirl-stealer because he went around a majority of the play shirtless," Darren laughs, rolling his eyes for emphasis. He comes back to the main topic with a clearing of his throat. "But, uh. It's… cool, that you told me. I don't know how it helps me any, though."

"Just think of it as natural, genders aside, to crush on fellow co-stars. You're with the same people so often and so many things happen between you on-screen when it comes to soap-opera-like shows like ours that these things happen. It's natural," Chris repeats, trying to comfort the fellow _Glee_ member. He smiles a little. "I don't think we should tell Max, though. He _does _have a girlfriend he seems to love very much, and it could be potentially very awkward."

"It's already awkward," Darren mutters under his breath. Louder, he adds, "But then again, it had been _his _idea for me to practice on him, so you never know. He's a sweet guy, so he was probably only being a good friend, but…"

"Max does act a little metro in his interviews, I've noticed," Chris muses, smiling along with the dark-haired boy. He suddenly raises his hand to his mouth. "Oh my God, you didn't just hear me say that. I swear I don't… All I do is stumble across _Glee_-related things, you know? I've seen interviews with all the cats members at some point or another."

"Don't worry, Chris, I understand," Darren winks, resting his hand on the taller boy's shoulder for a moment. He pats the solid warmth once, twice, before no longer trusting himself and removing his hand from Chris' shoulder. "I've done it, too."

The blue-hazel eyed boy laughs at the coincidence. "At least I'm not alone."

"…Huh. I guess you're not alone in more ways than one, Chris."


End file.
